League Assignment: It's So Goood

          Sort of a wide open topic; I decided to focus on some things that I like...that I wasn't sure I would like. Things I tried at someones suggestion that turned out to be

 Soooo Goooood

I was raised in a household where the most exotic food was something my mom called Mock Sukiyaki- my guess is that this came from a magazine, but it was basically pepper steak over minute rice. This would be a meal intended to feed a family on a limited budget. It would not be a meal intended to craft an epicurean palate. so years later when it was suggested I try "sushi" by a girlfriend of the time, my first thought was of revulsion. Stuff you do to keep a relationship going, eh?

     It was good- really good- and it was a gateway to other foods, of other cultures. I don't have the most educated palate in the world, but I also don't eat minute rice, if you get my drift

     Louis L'amour- I knew my Dad had this Collection of books, never saw the appeal. Just a bunch of cowboy stories, I reckoned, and I read Sci-Fi and Fantasy. One day my Dad gave me a book of L'amours short stories, and I thought.,. free book. And I read...and I asked to borrow more. And Now I pick him up every time I see one of his books at a thrift store. And I talk with my Dad over what I read, and he amazes me by remembering the stories, almost every one with only a little prompting

     Transformers Prime: I saw a little of the animation, and I thought "well, this sure as hell isn't G1" and turned up my nose. A couple of friends and then the Seibertron Podcast made me rethink things, and Damn! What a good storyline! The end of Predacons Rising brings me to tears every time

     I was walking through Sprouts Farmers Market one day, when my eye was caught by a flash of green where only gold should have been, or possibly spots of blue. I beheld these weird green muffins, and my first thought was something had gone terribly, terribly wrong

     But I bought, and I tasted Pistachio Muffins. and they may actually be the final evolution of muffin technology. I can't conceive of better

     Back to my origins. I grew up in an America where you had a cat, or a dog, or both, or you were a damn weirdo. My sister had a parakeet I remember her calling a "boyd" so the cats would not know(true!). My first real exposure to birds was a lovebird a friend of mine had that would call for him to let it out, and then laboriously work his way across the room to climb my friend, and love on him, and groom his beard. And I thought that was weird as hell...that this alien creature, not a mammal by any means, would want to love this man. Tweren't right, I tell ya- un-natural

     Cut forward to my first night in the apartment of my second wife, and the horror of "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE" first thing in the morning. Bolt upright, heart pounding, as she explained "that's just my bird". This was a cockatiel, who had gone feral and was living with pigeons, that she had spent eight hours catching. Fast forward to now, 17 years later, and we have this: my wonderful, intelligent little friend

So I guess this topic for me is all about embracing new experiences, and keeping the stuff that enriches my life. I hope the same for you all

For Brian, at Cool and Collected, his post is Elementary

G.I.Jigsaws post is Sheer Artistry(of Scott C.)

and Yelinna from Traveling Pics focuses on the importance of a good desk guardian